Withings reportedly puts Apple Health sync behind a $99.99/year paywall for new accounts
A Withings user has published a post on the company's community forum calling out what the author describes as a silent change. According to the post, starting from October 13th, 2026, any new Withings account is forced to pay for a Withings+ subscription at $99.99/year just to sync its own data to Apple Health.
The author says they contacted Customer Support and found the answer contradictory. Support reportedly said that syncing with Apple Health is a "standard feature that does not require a subscription". In the very next sentence, according to the author, support confirmed that "any account created after October 13th will be asked to sign up for a Withings+ subscription in order to export data". The justification support gave, as the author relays it, was new "privacy measures" and an "AI connector".
The author rejects those reasons on technical grounds. In their account, writing data to Apple Health via HealthKit happens locally on the phone, needs no complex cloud compute or server costs, and has nothing to do with an AI connector; they call it a basic API call. They acknowledge that manually exporting a CSV file is still possible, but argue that nobody wants to import CSV files by hand in 2026. They also claim that even the cheapest no-name smart scales offer automatic Apple Health synchronization for free.
The author calls moving a fundamental, always-free feature behind a paywall for new users an obvious cash grab that ruins the hardware experience and destroys trust in the brand. The post ends with a direct appeal: Withings should backtrack on the decision, and readers who agree are asked to upvote and reply so the company hears them. The post's premise is that nobody should have to pay a subscription to access their own health data.
Everything here comes from one user's account of the change and of the support replies; the post does not carry an official Withings announcement.
Key facts
- A Withings community-forum post says that from October 13th, 2026 any new account must pay for Withings+ at $99.99/year to sync data to Apple Health.
- The author says Customer Support called Apple Health sync a "standard feature that does not require a subscription" and, in the next sentence, said accounts created after October 13th will be asked to sign up for Withings+ to export data.
- Support's stated reasons, as relayed by the author, were new "privacy measures" and an "AI connector".
- The author argues HealthKit writes happen locally on the phone, so no cloud compute or server cost is involved, and notes that manual CSV export still works.
- The author urges Withings to reverse the change and asks readers to upvote and reply.
Why it matters
Syncing a scale or tracker to Apple Health is a basic expectation for many owners of connected hardware. The post describes a feature that the author says has always been free becoming a paid one for new accounts, at $99.99/year. The author's argument is that this turns data the user already generates on their own device into something they must pay to move, and that it damages trust in the brand.
Who it affects
According to the post, the change applies to new Withings accounts, specifically those created after October 13th, 2026. The post speaks only of new accounts, and the people most exposed are new buyers who want automatic Apple Health sync with their Withings hardware.
How to use it
The post names one workaround: manual CSV export of data, which the author says is still possible. The author finds it impractical. The paid route the post describes is a Withings+ subscription at $99.99/year, which new accounts are asked to take to export data. The post does not say what else Withings+ includes.
How solid is it
This is a single user's forum post. The $99.99/year price, the October 13th, 2026 date and the two support-reply fragments all come from the author, and the post carries no official Withings announcement beyond those fragments. The source does not say what the AI connector actually does. The support replies as quoted are internally inconsistent, which the author themselves points out. No reaction from Withings is given.
Risks and caveats
The technical claims, that HealthKit writes are local and need no server costs, and that the cheapest no-name scales sync to Apple Health for free, are the author's own assertions. The source does not state explicitly what happens to accounts created before October 13th. The price is given as $99.99/year, not $99, and the source gives no tax or regional pricing. Because the support replies are relayed second-hand, the exact policy wording may differ from what the post paraphrases.
“I strongly urge Withings to backtrack on this terrible decision.”
— Unnamed author of the Withings community-forum post